PGA Betting - Picking the Winner of The Barclays

The first of the FedEx Cup Playoff Events starts this Thursday with The Barclays.

Besides Tiger Woods and Padraig Harrington teeing off at The Barclays, Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson and defending FedEx Cup Champion Vijay Singh will be teeing off as well.

Who has the best shot to win The Barclays? Let’s take a look at some of the key contenders.

Golf: The Barclays To Win

1. Phil Mickelson +2200 - - Yes, Phil looked terrible out there during the PGA Championship, but that was only his second tournament back after taking time off to hang with his family. Lefty is still ranked in the top 4 in birdie conversions and is a member of Liberty National, the course where The Barclays will be played. He can do enough win it this week.

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2. Tiger Woods +150 - - Tiger has two victories and a 2nd place finish since missing the cut at the British Open. That puts him into a very good position in this, but, as always, the odds are extremely low on El Tigre. Will he win? Probably, but at less than 2 to 1 odds, I can’t bite.

3. Padraig Harrington +1500 - - If gamblers look past the fact that Harrington has produced two triple-bogey holes to put him out of contention for victories the past two weeks, then a wager on Paddy makes absolute sense. I’m willing to look past those two triple-bogeys because Padraig’s swing is obviously back. The man can play. That’s all bettors need to worry about.

4. Steve Stricker +3000 - - Stricker has finished in the Top 10 eight times this year. He has also won The Barclays before and is due to make a strong run for a victory in this. Stricker can play with the best on the Tour. I expect that after his terrible PGA Championship, he’ll be ready to remind his peers of how good he is.

5. Lucas Glover +4500 - - Glover’s ranked number 5 in scoring average and has 5 Top 10 finishes this season. The fact that he has finished in the Top 25 in six out of the last eight tournaments he has played in means that he is as solid of a play in this as anyone who isn’t named Tiger Woods.

6. Vijay Singh +3500 - - Singh won the FedEx Cup in 2008 and has won The Barclays in two out of the last three years. Singh isn’t playing all that well so far in 2009 but that was the case in 2008 at this point of that season and look what he did there?

Best Long Shot

Camilo Villegas +6000 - - The odds on Villegas are staggering considering that he won two of the four FedEx Cup events in 2008. Forget stats, Villegas warmed up for The Barclays by playing against Tiger Woods in a skins match earlier this week. That should get him going.